Category: Educator Professional Development
Articles and resources to support educators professional growth and development
Storypark as a teaching and learning tool
Storypark as a teaching and learning tool in a curriculum and pedagogy unit in the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University. Dr Rebecca Andrews and Ms Paula Haalebos. The staff and second year early childhood students in the Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University were provided access, free of charge, to Storypark. We found Storypark, as an example of an electronic documentation...
Insights into the updated National Quality Framework 2018
Research shows quality education and care early in life leads to better health, education and employment outcomes later in life. The early years are critical for establishing self-esteem, resilience, healthy growth and capacity to learn. Quality education and care shapes every child’s future and lays the foundation for development and learning. The National Quality Framework (NQF) introduced a new quality...
The new Te Whāriki in a nutshell part 2
There were five practices the Ministry of Education wants to develop further through the revamp of Te Whāriki. A rich curriculum for every child, a focus on learning that matters here, affirming of identity, language, and culture, parents, and whānau engaged in their children’s learning, and, personalised pathways to school and kura. Let’s have a deeper look at these five...
The New Te Whāriki in a nutshell.
Te Whāriki has been out for a while now, and the revised version since May 2017. So it’s time that we take a look back on the initial conversation at the launch and re-familiarise ourselves with the intent of the update. Initially, there were lots of conversations about what was left out and what the point of updating was. It...
RIE – Respectful care with infants
“The application of Emmi Pikler’s respectful and affectionate image of the baby has helped babies to develop well, and adults to change their internal representations of the baby’s capacities and their role as care providers.” (Introducing the Piklerian Developmental Approach: History and Principles, The Signal World Association for Infant Mental Health Newsletter 2010). When working with the youngest of...
Self care part 2
In part two, the thread of self-care continues with some ideas about control, choices, and saying yes. In this two-part blog, I talk about self-care as not being a ‘one-shot deal’- it is more a bunch of little things repeated time and time again to ensure that you are at your peak. In part one, I talked about ideas about...
Self Care
Self-care is one of those trendy ideas right now. It’s a funny mix with people who are ‘typically Kiwi’, and are ‘just getting on with it’, and for the most part that’s ok. But, sometimes it’s not. Leading up to Christmas, I find it an ideal time to reflect on what I can manage, and what I have to do...
Supporting relationships and attachment in the early years
Relationships are broadly defined as the state of being connected or related. This can mean an association by blood or marriage, a kinship or the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties. It is also recognised as a type of dependence or alliance in the way that we behave or regard one another. When considering the National...
Expanding our notion of family to include the Rainbow Family
Kath Cooper is back again to talk more about Rainbow Families. While celebrating and acknowledging all family compositions is important, time and again it is the unnoticed family structures that need a little more ‘love and attention’ from teachers. Rainbow Families are one of those. In this blog, acceptance of Rainbow Families will be discussed. A Rainbow Family is a...
More study tips for ECE students
In my previous blog, I started a conversation about the issues of working, life, family and studying. The challenges are real, and the trifecta of time, energy and location is often times a real challenge. I might ‘feel’ like studying, but there is a whānau event, I might have the time to study, but I don’t feel like it, and...